


you don’t know, you’re almost near it

by Hexx



Series: this love language is music [2]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Birdwatching, Cassian is pining and Han thinks it's hilarious, F/M, Group Assignments, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-07
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-05-19 04:44:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14866838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hexx/pseuds/Hexx
Summary: You’re not supposed to stare directly into the Sun. You shouldn’t stare directly at Jyn Erso, either.akaCassian may be good at bottling things in and being quite but some of his friends just know him too well at this point.





	you don’t know, you’re almost near it

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from the song Tightrope by LP, again. It's a good song for them, guys!

“There goes that short, angry girl again.” Kay said, sounding bored and uninterested. Though if that had truly been the case, he wouldn’t have said anything at all.

“She’s not that short, you’re just tall.” Cassian replies, not looking up from the notes he’s transferring onto flashcards. He doesn’t need to look to know exactly who Kay’s talking about.

“She’s shorter then you are and you are only slightly above average.” Kay replies, purposely digging now to try and get some kind of rise out of his friend.

Cassian sighed in defeat and looked up at his friend, who looked far too smug considering it was barely past nine in the morning and they had already been at this library table for well over two hours. He rubbed his eyes, realizing that at this point they were pushing three hours and he had a class at 10 am and he really needed more coffee if he was going to be able to keep himself from confusing these political science notes with his history seminar.

“I’m getting another coffee.” He said, standing and snatching his travel mug off the table and stalking away. Kay didn’t say anything as he looked up at Cassian, just somehow managed to look both bored in the face and entirely too interested in the eyes. Cassian didn’t put the pieces together on that one until he stepped into the little alcove where the coffee bar was and saw what Kay had noticed in the first place.

There in front of him at the end of the line was Jyn Erso, in running shorts and a muscle tank that looked like the sleeves had been lost in some kind of physical altercation rather than to a pair of scissors.  He averted his gaze before the look could become a stare or a leer and took a deep breath. The barista had already made eye contact with him and Cassian was not going to make the poor girl think he thought her incompetent by abruptly turning and leaving.  So he got into line behind Jyn and did his upmost to keep her from noticing him.

Which honestly almost worked, until the second barista breezed into the room when there was just one person in line ahead of Jyn and said “I can start working on your orders if you know what you want.”

“Just a black coffee.” Jyn replied hand raking through the bit of bangs that had escaped the messy braid hanging down her back. Cassian was momentarily caught by the way her fingers flexed with nervous energy.

“Right, and for you?” The barista said, jerking her chin at Cassian.

“Uh, the same. Please.” He said, keeping his gaze high and off of Jyn as she suddenly half turned at the sound of his voice. Trying to remain as casual as possible he just lifted up his travel mug and said “But it’s alright, I have this so don’t worry about pouring anything yet or-“

“Yeah alright, thanks.” The barista said, polite but rushed in that way that most baristas tend to be.

And as Cassian lowered his cup back down to his side again he couldn’t stop himself from also lowering his gaze to Jyn’s face.

She had fixed him with that same, intense look that she’d been shooting him for weeks.  Cassian just looked back, trying to keep his face as neutral as possible. It was like looking into the sun. Like looking into a star, exploding across the sky into a scattering of dust. Lovely and frightening and bad for his health.

The edge of her lip had already started to lift just slightly, to curl back to bare her teeth in a way that Cassian was now convinced was an entirely subconscious behavior. He quickly averted his gaze from roaming her face to a spot just above her eyebrows, on a light patch of freckles that formed close to her hairline. He’d found that for the most part that tended to settle her down, like some kind of wild animal. Don’t look her in the eye, she considers that a challenge.  

It wasn’t that she was hostile for the sake of hostility, nobody ever was.

But she was a bit feral at times, though Cassian didn’t take it personally. The first week of classes he had seen her drop Melshi (a guy about twice her size) straight to the ground with very little effort when he had mistaken her for his girlfriend from behind and had lifted her straight off the sidewalk with no warning. That kind of vicious fight or flight reflexes was a learned behavior, and Cassian couldn’t even imagine what a girl so young could have lived through to develop them.

He could, of course, sympathize.

Jyn had turned away without a word, the back of her neck an interesting shade of pink as she stepped forward to pay for her coffee. Cassian waited  patiently for her to put all her change in her wallet, standing a respectful distance behind her even as he felt the people in line behind him pressing forward. She seemed to notice the distance as she glanced over her shoulder at him again, subtly this time, before quickly side stepping out of his way to collect her to go cup.

He was surprised to see, after he had paid and handed his travel mug over to the barista, that she was still standing there. Hovering over at the side where finished drinks were placed to be collected. She had her coffee clenched in one hand, her phone in the other. Cassian noticed the way she kept the cord wrapped around her hand like someone would wrap boxing bandages, like the added few bits of rubber and thin wire would have an added benefit if she chose to clock him in the jaw.

As he stepped up to her, the second barista plopped his now full travel mug on the counter before bustling off to make a mocha something or other, Cassian had heard what the kid ordered but hadn’t retained the information. He was too busy trying to suss out the expression on Jyn’s face.

Cassian had the choice of easing past her to pick up the coffee cup, or leaning into her personal space to make use of his long arms to get the cup. Just before he reached the point of no return, something in Jyn’s expression flickered and changed. Like she realized she’d been staring at him for a good minute or so and she hadn’t meant to. The flustered look vanished as she hardened her green eyes and lifted her chin at him, daring him to comment. All Cassian could do was lift an eyebrow, and lean into her personal space.

For a moment, she let him. Then she took a half step back and turned towards the exit.

“See you in class.” She said quickly, the words nearly running together. Her accent was sharp against his ears, lord knows he liked to hear her talk.

“See you.” He said, though he couldn’t be sure she’d even heard it as she practically marched out of the room, neck bright red and head held high. Cassian stood there smiling at her in the safety of her exit before quickly remembering that a) there were other people waiting to pick up their orders and b) he had gotten this coffee for an academic purpose and he really needed to get back to those notes.

Kay glanced up at him, raising an eyebrow at the grin that Cassian had brought back with him along with the coffee.  “Are you now sufficiently rejuvenated now that Miss. Erso has come and gone?”

“Kay, shut up.”

* * *

 

“So guess what.” Han said, kicking the front door closed behind him with his heel as he walked in, hopping over the back of the couch and causing Cassian to bounce a little bit from the force of his landing. He looked over at his roommate as he slung his arm along the back of the couch behind Cassian’s head, half turned to face him.

“Luke and Lando are eloping.”

“Cute, but no. I think Lando let that ship sail after he realized that Luke was too pure a soul for his deviant tendencies. “

“Did Luke even realize he was being flirted with, it didn’t look like it from what I saw.”

“I don’t think he did and that’s beside the point. But! Speaking of Lando, we’re having another party next weekend.”

“That was what I was going to say, but I second guessed myself.” Cassian deadpanned.

“Of course it was, Andor.” Han said good naturedly, patting the back of his head as he got up and walked to their kitchen. Cassian tossed his notebook onto the coffee table, no sense in pretending he was going to keep studying anyway, and got up to follow him.

“Saturday then? I’ll tell Kay. He and I will probably turn all the furniture in the apartment upside down just to ruin your night when you turn up at 2am with Leia. “

“Joke’s on you asshole, her place is closer.” Han said, pouring four different cereals into the same bowl for his post-class snack. He grabbed a beer bottle and the milk carton out of the fridge and set them on the counter beside the dish before looking at Cassian again. “But in all seriousness, you should come to this one.”

“I think that’ll be a pass.” Cassian said, watching Han almost pour beer into his bowl before catching himself. Han made a sound like he was going to protest, but he looked Cassian over and nodded. This conversation was familiar, and as comforting as it was monotonous.

Despite the almost constant clash of personalities and the blow ups that occasionally happen when they step on one another’s tripwires, he and Han did have a healthy understanding of one another’s hang ups. You don’t survive a year in a room where the beds are so close you can kick the other person for snoring too loudly without getting out of your own bed and not come out of it learning how the other person ticks to a degree.  Han was a Navy wash out, his problems with authority clashing too viciously with command so he had never seen active duty. That didn’t mean he didn’t understand the significance of it, or the tolls it could take on a person.

“Well if you change your mind, it’s the same time and location as always.” He said, picking up his bowl and returning to his spot on the couch. He nudges Cassian’s notebook closer to the edge of the coffee table as he sets his beer down. “What’s this shit?”

“Philosophy.” Cassian replies, grabbing his own beer from the fridge and flopping into the beat up red armchair near the balcony door. “I’m picking out possible questions to do my midterm project on.  My partner is supposed to text me at some point to set up a meeting so we can work on it.” He tried to say it as nonchalantly as possible, taking a drink so he was occupied with something when Han looked up from the notebook with his trademark smirk creeping onto his face.

“Philosophy eh, and who exactly is your partner for this project?” his tone far too innocent sounding for Cassian’s liking.

“Why do I get the feeling that you already know?” He asked with a sigh, slouching further into the arm chair.

Han leaned back on the couch, kicking his feet onto the edge of the table so he could balance his cereal bowl on his knees. “I may or may not have heard Erso critiquing your pick up skills with Leia over lunch.”

Cassian felt the tips of his ears get hot but he managed to keep his expression bored and his posture lazy. “I wasn’t trying to pick her up, we need to be able to get into contact with each other for the assignment.” Though his heart was pounding just as hard now as it had been when he’d slide the note into her territory.

“Oh it wasn’t so much that as it was you apparently running out of the room without a word that she had an issue with.” Han said, looking far too pleased about the situation.

Cassian took a deep drink from his beer to keep from letting out a longsuffering sigh.

“Oh don’t look so gloomy about it, if it makes you feel any better she won’t stop fucking saying your name now.” Han said around a mouthful of cereal. He jabbed the spoon in Cassian’s direction and grinned, cheeks puffed out like a squirrel.  “Like seriously, I don’t think I have ever heard someone say another person’s name that much outside of like, sex.”

Cassian jolted a little bit at that, though luckily Han didn’t notice because he was busy shoveling food into his mouth. The comment was so very like Han, crass and jarring for the comedic effect of it. But it had the unfortunate side effect of momentarily linking Jyn Erso and sex together in Cassian’s head. Though that could have been Han’s plan all along .You could never tell with him. Cassian took another deep drink of his beer and stood up.

“I’m going to the park.” He muttered, carrying his drink with him to his room to find his shoes and binoculars. There was a small handful of birds fattening themselves up before their migration got fully under way and that meant they were sure to be hopping around on the ground from spot to spot. A behavior that Cassian was rather fond of.

“Don’t get too crazy out there, you tell those birds you have to get home at a decent time. It’s a school night.” Han said from his spot as he turned on the tv and started flicking through the channels so quickly that it was doubtful that he was even noticing what was on.

The park close to their apartment complex honestly wasn’t much of a park. The one closer to campus was far nicer, with better trees and nicer benches and a duck pond to top it all off. But the little bit of grass and trees tucked away behind a roadside cemetery a few blocks from his apartment served well enough when Cassian wasn’t up to making the trip. Plus, it was always far less crowded. A bit more litter filled from local teenagers hiding out there to drink beer and smoke but quite all the same.

And it was perfect right now, the rapidly cooling pre-twilight hours full of bird song. A group of finches darted about in the grass, snapping up bits of discarded popcorn that someone had scattered and left behind. Cassian was just easing himself onto one of the ancient wooden benches that was half buried in leaves when his phone buzzed.

The text was from a random number and Cassian felt his breath catch at the message.

_Cassian, it’s Jyn_

And then the phone buzzed again, before he had even properly opened the first notification.

_From philosophy._

He was grinning, just short of laughing. It was such a ridiculous notion that he wouldn’t know who she was, but then again she always seemed hesitant to engage outside of her small social circle. She liked to be in the background, in the safety of being another face in the crowd. She probably thought he didn’t know her name, so sure that she was well hidden out in plain sight. Cassian scrubbed his hand over his face when he realized he had just been staring at her message for longer than necessary and typed a reply.

 **Cassian** : _What can I do for you?_

Jyn’s response was lightning quick, which Cassian had not been anticipating at all. It was like she was sitting around waiting for his response rather than doing…well, anything else.

 **Jyn** : _Did you look at the questions for our project?_

 **Cassian** : _I started to._

 **Jyn** : _I am narrowing it down. I have like, eight that sound interesting._

Cassian paused, and considered how to respond to that. In truth he had known exactly the two he’d wanted to choose from the second the paper had landed in his hands. But he didn’t want to admit that those were the ones he wanted to work from, the morbidity and seriousness of the questions stabbing at the part of his heart where his parents were buried, next to all the soldiers he had once known.

**Cassian** _: I have a few as well._

Again her answer was nearly instantaneous, whereas Cassian had lingered over what to say for well over two minutes.

 **Jyn** : _When do you want to pick?_

 **Cassian** : _Sometime before next class on Tuesday._

 **Jyn** : _When_

Cassian had to laugh at the shortness of her messages. It was pretty similar to all their in person interactions so far. Pointed and exact, leaving little to speculation or guess work. Jyn Erso liked to be understood the first time she said something, because asking her to elaborate meant asking her to reveal personal details about herself and she just wasn’t about that at all. In all honesty it just made Cassian all the more curious about her.

 **Cassian** : _Saturday? I have late classes on Friday_

 **Jyn** : _I have plans Saturday night._

Without even having to ask he knew exactly what those plans were. And it made Han’s invitation all the less innocent and so much more meddlesome. Cassian exhaled and looked up at the sky, silently berating Han from a distance for his poor attempts at wingmanship.

 **Cassian** : _What about in the morning?_

 **Jyn** : _Where_

Again Cassian had to pause. This felt an odd bit like trust. From everything he could tell from his observations the last few months, Jyn liked to be in control of her situations. She always acted upon her environment before it had the chance to act on her. And if it was out of her control, then she closed ranks and kept her guard up. He had expected her to just tell him where he could meet her, if he could meet her at all. In truth he had half expected her to dodge his attempts at a face to face and insist on doing most of the work via email. This situational change was unexpected…but very welcome.

He wanted to see her in private. Have a chance to see what she was like when she wasn’t  focused on keeping people at arm’s length. He wanted to know if she would let him see that. He’d caught glimpses of it on campus, the way her head fell back when she laughed with her brother. Or the fond smile she would give Leia as the two walked across the quad together, elbows knocking into one another’s as they tried to jab one another in the side as subtly as possible. The soft look on her face when she got really deep into a book while stretched out on the grass outside the library courtyard.    

 **Cassian** : _My place?_

For the first time in the conversation there was a lull in Jyn’s response time, and Cassian cursed himself. He’d made a mistake, he’d over stepped and she was crafting a sharp way of shutting him down. He started typing out other options, the library or the dining hall, somewhere on campus if she’d prefer. Or even just a few minutes before class started on Tuesday if she didn’t want-

 **Jyn** : _Oka_ y.

Pressure lifted off Cassian’s lungs as he exhaled sharply. The ice cold sensation of dread thawed from his stomach upwards to his ears where he felt them blush.

 **Cassian** : _Okay._

* * *

 

Cassian had woken with a start from a dream that he didn’t bother trying to remember. His breathing was labored and his heart was fluttering and the best thing he could do for himself was get up and get out. He bumped awkwardly into the doorframe as he stumbled out into the dark hall, the blackout curtains leaving the whole place nearly pitch. He adjusted, operating on the crack of light coming from the hallway beyond the front door and made his way to the balcony.

It was still very much pre-dawn. Though from the nature sounds he could hear, it wouldn’t be long now. He wrapped his hands around the railing and leaned heavily, sucking in air into his lungs and muttering softly to himself all the things he knew to be true. Who he was, where he was, what he’s doing here, what year it was, who he knew. The cool air and the metal biting into his palm grounded him quickly and he sank into one of the chairs as he tried to shake off the dream.

He apparently dozed off because he startled awake as Han appeared at the open door some time later. The sun was up now, though still weak and low in the sky. Han was wrapped in a towel and dripping water onto concrete and he scowled at his bleary eyed roommate.

“You left the door open and the whole apartment is cold as a bitch now.” He said, shivering dramatically to prove his point.

Cassian snorted at this display, leaning back in his seat. “Sorry, didn’t realize it.”

“Yeah,” Han scoffed back, crossing his arms over his chest. “I figured when I found you fucking snoring out here.”

“I don’t snore.” Cassian defended, “You snore.”

“You do too.” Han replied, taking a gentle swing at the back of Cassian’s head.

“Aren’t you cold?” Cassian shoots back, ducking to avoid the cuffing. Han grunts in response and goes back inside, pulling the door shut behind him.  Cassian yawns slowly and stretches before reaching under the makeshift table for where he’d left his binoculars. There was an owl living somewhere near the parking lot and Cassian had narrowed down the possible livable trees down over the last few weeks. If he was right, and also if he was lucky, he might even pinpoint it’s nest today.

He had a good stretch of peace, in which time he had honed in on a few promising looking clues, before Han reappeared on the balcony, only half dressed and clutching his coffee cup as if it could protect his shirtless form from the fall chill. Han took a long, drawn out sip punctuated by a loud satisfied sigh of pleasure before saying, in the least casual sounding tone possible:  “So, I’m going to be heading to Lando’s soon. You going to be able to behavior yourself when you’re all alone with Jyn?”

Cassian wondered if the vein he felt throbbing in his neck was visible to Han. It probably was considering how he was snickering into his coffee. Cassian kept his arms locked into the position they were so he wouldn’t lose sight of the owl nest, as luck would have it he found it on his second tree, and turned his head to give his roommate his best ‘I’m being very serious right now and I can make this hurt’ look. Which wasn’t as effective on Han as it used to be, either Han was getting used to it or being out of military interrogation for so long had put him out of practice, but it still did the trick when it needed to.

Which apparently was not this instance, because Han just laughed harder. But then again, Han had to deal with the aftermath of hot coffee shooting out of his nose, which was justice in a way.

* * *

 

The force Jyn used to close the door behind her as she rushed out of the apartment was enough to make the key bowl by the door rattle. It made Cassian laugh, his face feeling warm at the entire thing. Jyn had proved to be everything he had suspected and so, so much more. His observations had only scratched the surface, and the person he had glimpsed beneath was somehow even brighter and more brilliant then he’d anticipated.

She was a solar storm, and Cassian couldn’t look away.

They worked well together, when they weren’t arguing about their convictions. Jyn was stubborn and when she dug her heels in she made really, really solid arguments. Cassian remembered the flickering of surprise on her face when he told her she would have been a dream on his high school debate team. When she blushed, it was across her whole face but it was darkest at her neck, which was only barely visible from the turtleneck collar she had on. And then she had shaken it off, brushed the complement away like it was water off of a ducks back.

Cassian leaned his head back against the cupboard above the sink and sighed deeply. If he had been waiting for a sign more concrete then all of Han’s teasing and the times he had caught her staring that she was at least a little bit interested, then he had it. She’d practically hurled the invitation in his face. And it was so, so tempting.

He liked her. Really liked her. Something about her, as volatile and wild as she was, was just calming to be around. Despite her demeanor there was something there that Cassian just felt a kindredness to. Something about the way she guarded herself and her secrets, while at the same time throwing herself fully into everything when it came to her friends with no regard to her own safety was so familiar. She’s like a bird fluffing itself to look bigger, cute but still capable of digging it’s sharp little claws into your eyes.

And she liked him too. At least liked him more as a person then he thought she did. Even if her invitation was strictly friendly, it was still an invitation to spend time with her. Though again, Cassian recalled the way her eyes lingered across him and her skin pinked. No, he didn’t think her interest was strictly friendly.

Cassian dragged his hand over his face again, swearing. He really didn’t need to be devoting this much time to this decision. He’d see her again, regardless of if he went to the party or not. Hell she already planned to be back Monday evening to work on their project. But then again, that just wasn’t the same. Cassian pressed his thumb into his bottom lip and sighed heavily through his nose.

Han was never going to let him live this down.

* * *

 

He woke up wearing everything except his shoes, in a sitting position with his back against his couch and the tv playing the Bourne Identity dvd menu softly on repeat. He groaned as he stretched his neck, and stilled as he heard a soft muttering. Turning his head he saw Jyn, still asleep on his couch in everything except her shoes and her flannel which had apparently been balled up behind Cassian’s head all night.

Sunshine shown though the gap in the curtains that Cassian hadn’t closed all the way the night before and slashed across her, making her golden and dangerous. Cassian shifted to bring his arm up onto the couch as he watched her, leaning against it so he could press his thumb against his lower lip. If he only ever got one chance to do this, he’d like to remember it. After a few moments, with the sun creeping steadily in and the bird song getting louder outside she started to stir.

“Do you have coffee?” Jyn asked, softly and a bit muffled from where her face was pressed into the cushion. She hadn’t even opened her eyes yet, though she stretched out as she started to wake up more fully.

“I haven’t managed to get up off the floor yet.” Cassian replied.

Jyn just hummed in response and reached up to rub at her eyes. The liner she had been wearing the night before was smudged and lingering, despite her attempt to wipe a portion of t off the night before while he had been setting up the movie. As she shifted from laying on her side to laying on her back there was a loud popping from her joints that pulled a sharp guttural noise from her. Cassian squeezed his eyes shut against the sound, doing his best to derail himself from any inappropriate ideas.

“Where’s my phone?” She asked, sitting up onto her elbows and blinking around the room.

“I think you left it on the charger in my room last night.” Cassian said, to which Jyn groaned and flopped backwards on the couch. Her shoulder made a loud popping sound that made Cassian cringe.

“Why did we sleep on this couch if you have a bed?” She asked around a loud yawn.

Cassian tried not to imagine any special meaning to that question as he replied “You slept on the couch, I slept on the floor.”

“Why did you sleep on the floor if I had a couch and you have a bed?” She shot back, and Cassian laughed.

“Well if we do this again, we’ll take the bed.” He said, rubbing his face as he got to his feet.

“Okay.” She said, so softly and cautiously that he barely heard it. In fact for a moment he doubted he did until he glanced down at where she was laying and saw the sheepish look on her face. She had her bottom lip clenched between her teeth like she couldn’t believe she’d said such a thing. Her neck was turning redder as each second passed so Cassian averted his gaze for her comfort.

He padded into the kitchen to put on the coffee pot, before leaning against the island to look at her some more. Jyn had finally gotten to her feet and was tying her flannel around her hips by the sleeves, a look that Cassian found extremely attractive. She turned off his tv and came to stand at the counter across from him, leaning on the opposite side so she could study his face.

“What are you going to do now?” He asked after a few moments where the only sound was the coffee pot brewing and the birds outside screaming.

“Probably go home, shower. Go for my Sunday run.” She said, shrugging. “I do the really long circuit at the park on Sundays. Gotta get it in before it gets too miserably cold and I have to move indoors to the gym.” She tapped her fingers slowly against the countertop. “What about you? Going to go watch the birds at the park?”

Cassian raised an eyebrow at her and she just stared back coolly, lifting her chin in challenge. So she was admitting to watching him now, her cards were starting to show.

“Probably. They’ll all be gone soon, going south for the winter. Better see them while I’ve got the chance.”

“So, we’re both going to the park.” Jyn said, green eyes tracing over him in idle observance. Cassian noticed the indents from the texture of his couch etched into the side of her face, intersecting her freckles.

“It seems like it.” He said, leaning forward on his elbows. Jyn hauled herself up onto one of the questionable bar stools that Han and Chewie had dragged home after one drunken Friday from some pub or other so she could be at eyelevel. Cassian couldn’t help the soft, short burst of laughter at her and the warning gaze she threw in his direction was brief and in conflict with the amused turn of her mouth.

Jyn glanced down at her hands for a moment, fingers digging into the back of her hands as she clenched them together before she pried them apart in favor of holding onto the counter’s edge. She lifted up onto her hands, locking her elbows together as she leaned forward into his space. They stood there in a tense but warm silence as the coffee pot made it’s loud gurgling spitting sounds at the end of its cycle. If he wanted to he could reach up and touch her face, wrap his hand around the back of her neck and pull her forward. If she wanted to she could lean forward and press her forehead to his, tilt her face just so. He’d let her, and he strongly suspected she would let him.

But instead they just cupped the fragile moment between them before Cassian pulled away to pour their coffee.  When he turned back to her she was sitting on the stool, chin propped into her hand with a mischievous look. Cassian raised an eyebrow at her as he set the mug within her reach. “What?”

“So if we’re both going to be at the park, we might as well go together.” She said, with a simple, matter of fact tone.

Cassian considered this, and made sure his facial expressions made his consideration clear as he took a sip from his coffee. He noticed how her eyes followed the bob of his throat for a moment before she took her own drink and wondered at the fact that they could just…openly look at one another now when they wanted to.

“I’ll run the circuit with you if you come watch the ducks with me after.” He said, and Jyn’s smile lit up her face as she grinned around her coffee mug.

“Alright, but we should stop and get bread or something for them?” She asked, setting her cup down on the counter and leaning forward on her elbow. “That’s what people do when they watch birds right?”

“You can’t feed birds bread Jyn, it’s bad for them.”

“What?”

“So is rice.”

“Rice is bad for birds?”

“Yeah, it’ll make their stomachs explode.”

“It’ll _what_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Cassian's POV is a little tricker for me to write but I still enjoyed it. Out of the stories I have planned for this collection, this is the only one that is going to be a direct companion to another work, so from here on out none of the stories will share songs for the titles.
> 
> Thanks for reading~
> 
> A note since it's been brought up in comments: the bread thing is true, the rice thing is an old wives tale.


End file.
